Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank lessened its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 184 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $508,381,000 after acquiring an additional 25,591 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $426,532,000 after purchasing an additional 70,785 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $392,766,000 after buying an additional 183,947 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 754,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $222,800,000 after buying an additional 47,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,583,000 after buying an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $311.80 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $293.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $226.84 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.